With diverse flora
and fauna, magnificent
natural landscapes, and
an ecological biosphere
that supports life,
this wondrous planet
is our earthly home.
From our animal
co-inhabitants
to the lush rainforests
and life-giving soil,
we cherish all these
as gifts from the Creator.
It is a common theme
in the world’s major
faiths that during
our temporary stay here,
we should be good
stewards of Mother Earth.

Throughout the years,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
has shared
the message of leading
a balanced life
while following
a spiritual path.
Not only must we nourish
our spirits,
but we share
the responsibility
to care for nature
and our fellow beings.
In light of recent
scientific evidence which
pinpoint the raising of
livestock as the number one
contributor to climate change,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
affirms
the important message
she has noted for over
the past two decades:
we must be vegan and
practice sustainable living.
We invite you to listen to
a compilation of excerpts from
Supreme Master Ching Hai’s
lectures entitled
“The True Solution for
a Carbon-free Society.”

We appreciate
your company
for today’s episode of
Between Master
and Disciples
here on
Supreme Master Television.
Join us again tomorrow
for part 2 of
“The True Solution for
a Carbon-free Society.”

And now,
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants
is coming up next, right
after Noteworthy News.
Please stay tuned.
We bid you adieu for now.

It’s been a pleasure
to have your company
for today’s episode of
Between Master
and Disciples.
Part 3 of
“The True Solution for
a Carbon-free Society”
will continue next Friday.
Up next is
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants right after Noteworthy News
here on
Supreme Master Television.
Please stay tuned.
May Heavens bless you
with much love and light.

Thank you,
for your company
for today’s episode of
Between Master
and Disciples.
Join us again tomorrow
for part 4 of
“The True Solution for a Carbon-free Society.”
Up next is Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants right
after Noteworthy News
here on
Supreme Master Television.
Please stay tuned.
May you be guided
by wisdom and kindness
in your everyday life.

Thank you,
compassionate viewers,
for your company for the
“The True Solution for
a Carbon-free Society”
series, a compilation of
Supreme Master Ching Hai’s
lectures, on
Between Master
and Disciples.
Up next is Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants right
after Noteworthy News
here on
Supreme Master Television.
We bid you adieu
and wish you
many joyous moments.

The only way to avoid
the “point of no return”
climate catastrophe
is to take action
on the most climatically
disastrous course of all –
that is, meat production.
By now
we have all the evidence,
all the information
to safely say so.
The livestock industry
is the top greenhouse gas
generator.
The last published findings
from the United Nations
in 2006 told us that
the livestock industry
causes greenhouse gas
emissions more than
all the world’s
transportation sectors
combined - airplanes,
trains, cars, motorcycles,
etc., altogether.
Updated calculations
tell us that
the livestock industry
is responsible for
at least 50% of
the global warming.

There are three reasons
why the livestock
industry is the first cause
of global warming
that we should focus on.
First, livestock is the
primary human-caused
emitter of methane,
and methane
not only has 72 times
the heat-trapping ability,
it is a shorter-lived gas.
This means that it will
leave the atmosphere
much faster than CO2,
within just a decade
as opposed to
thousands of years for CO2.
Therefore,
eliminating methane
by eliminating
livestock breeding
is the fastest way
to cool the planet.

We have to tackle
the most important
of emitters.
Next, the pollutant
known as aerosols,
you already know, or
particles released along
with CO2 from burning
fossil fuels, actually
have a cooling effect.
Some scientists say it is
roughly canceling out the
warming effect of CO2.
Therefore,
much of the warming
we are seeing may
actually be due to methane.
In fact,
it is due to methane, and
its number one source,
that is, animal raising.
Third, NASA scientists
are paying
increasing attention
to another very serious
source of global warming –
that is, black carbon.
I’m sure you know that.

This is
the particulate matter
known as soot, S-O-O-T,
and it is 680 times more
heat-trapping than CO2.
Black carbon is landing
on the ice in Antarctica,
absorbing the sun’s heat
and accelerating
the ice melt.
The majority of
the black carbon particles
in Antarctica
are coming from where? –
South American
rainforests that are burned
for the livestock industry.
Now we’re going
somewhere!
We must urgently
address methane
and black carbon,
both outcomes of
the meat industry.
Immediately
we have to tackle it.
I pray all wise leaders
will halt
the lethal meat practice,
which is the main force
driving us to the point
of no return right now.
Otherwise, all other
efforts to de-carbonize
our economies
may be cancelled out,
or never have a chance
to materialize
in the first place.

Is there any way
in which we could reduce
the amount of carbon
within the atmosphere?
Yes, there is a way:
vegetarian diet.
Immediately reduce.
What is
in the atmosphere, if we
do not continue the way
we are living our life
right now and we will not
continue to overload
the atmosphere, then
it will decrease with time,
maybe long time,
but it will decrease.
And what is important
is not to create any more,
or not so
overwhelmingly that
nature cannot handle.
Nature can help
to absorb some
of the carbon dioxide
but we overload nature, so
we have a problem right now
and we’ll continue
to have a problem
if we are not doing
anything to prevent
further destruction
of the planet.

There is already
some advanced science
to capture CO2 and
mix it with sea water
to create cement.
That will reduce CO2
used by other cement-
producing methods as well,
and also reduce new CO2
from polluting the air.
It’s in the making still
and I hope
it will be beneficial
and on time so that
we have enough time
to prevent
the global warming.
But still,
any new technology
takes so long to develop
and to be in the market.
The best solution,
the quickest,
the most benevolent that
can change everything
from black to white
immediately
is the vegetarian diet,
because compassion
begets compassion.

What can people
in the aviation industry
do to help reduce and
prevent carbon emissions
from aircraft?
Thank you very much.

If we stop eating animals
and be kind to all beings
as well as
our environment, then
we still can keep the
existing aviation industry
the way it is until
some better invention.
We still have time
for that.
If we change
to vegetarian diet,
we can keep everything,
not just airplane
but everything else –
transportation, car, ship –
until we have better ones.
Even if we don’t have
a better one, this is just
a very minimum CO2
and nature can absorb
and dilute it for us.
It’s just the meat industry
that causes
the most pollution
for the planet, that
the planet is overloaded,
nature is overloaded,
the ocean is overloaded.
So, everything warms up
because of meat
and animal products.

So, airplane
is a very small thing.
If we stop
the meat production,
if we stop eating meat
and harming the animals,
the good benevolent
atmosphere will
change everything into
a beneficial planet for us.
Even before,
our planet was good,
but if we change
to the vegetarian diet,
this planet
will become a paradise,
will be plentiful,
will be peaceful,
will be very happy
for everybody to live on.
So, we stop the meat first,
not the flight.
But anyway, of course
it would be good
if we have time
to invent something new
to stop the CO2
from the plane or
from other transportation.
But that is not urgent.

That is not urgent at all
because the pollution
from transportation,
including airplanes,
is minimal
compared to the pollution
that’s produced by meat.
But for your information,
in New Zealand,
Air New Zealand is
retrofitting its planes with
a wingtip device so that
they can reduce the drag
and, therefore,
saving a lot of fuel and
reducing carbon dioxide
as well.
So, other industry,
other flight, other air,
can profit
from this information
from Air New Zealand.
But it will take some time,
all this, and meanwhile,
I don’t know if we have
enough time to wait
for the new invention.
So, the best, the fastest
is vegetarian diet.

Supreme Master,
about the issue of
global warming, because
I believe this is certainly
an area that is quite close
to your heart,
I think what we are
asking is what that means
for the fate of ourselves
and indeed
our planet is one that
more and more people
are becoming aware of.
And many of us
are about...the burning
of fossil fuels
and how that increases
greenhouse gases.
Now, although
we do our best to recycle
and change our light bulbs
and drive hybrid cars
and eat organically, locally
grown food and so on.

But according to the
UN report,
Livestock’s Long Shadow
from November 2006,
that’s actually not
the #1 cause
of greenhouse gases.
But, in fact,
the report found that 18%
of all greenhouse gas
emissions are caused
by the livestock industry
which is more than all
forms of transportation
put together.
For example, scientists
have shown that, say
the average car produces
3 kilograms a day
of CO2 gases,
while clearing rainforest
to produce beef
for maybe 1 hamburger
produces 75 kilograms
of CO2 gases.
That’s a huge difference
of 2,500%.
So, for anyone
wanting to reduce
our carbon footprint,
this clearly shows that
eating meat has a much
bigger impact on the
environment than, say,
driving your car.

Would you be
in agreement with what
the scientists are saying?
Yes, ma’am.
18% pollution is just part
of the estimate.
Actually, there are other
hidden side causes of
global warming because
it’s not included,
like people get sick and
the price we have to pay
for the hospital
and the taking care
and to develop medicine
and research, etc., etc.,
and the cost of
the sorrow of people
who lost loved ones due
to meat-related illness.
And all the change that
we advocated up till now
by society is helping,
but it’s very little as you
can calculate it yourself.
Only vegetarian diet
can truly help.
And as every action
provokes
another action
and like attracts like,
so if we save lives,
ours will be spared.
Everything else
is just secondary.

Dear Master,
greetings to you. Greetings. Honored to have you there.
By your initiative, this
significant conference
is based upon the ideal
of changing
human consciousness
to tackle climate change.
The question is,
how much is the possible
calculated carbon imprint
cut by a single person
being on
a vegetarian lifestyle?

Dear Master,
greetings to you.

The question:
How much possibly is the
calculated carbon imprint
cut by a single person
being vegetarian?

Yes, how much?
Very, very much.
The carbon reduction
is immense
by just being vegetarian.
We don’t even need to
cut down on cars
and transportation yet;
just being vegetarian,
having animal-free diet,
we will cut a huge
amount of carbon dioxide
to stop
the global warming.
For example,
in just one year,
if a person is having
a meat-based diet,
he would produce
the carbon equivalent
of driving a car almost
5000 kilometers.
A vegetarian diet would
cut the carbon in half,
50% less,
to the equivalent
of 2427 kilometers.
And if that person
adopts a vegan diet,
meaning absolutely
no animal products,
either used or eaten,
then the equivalent
is further reduced to
just 629 kilometers,
which is 87% less than
that of a meat-based diet.

And best still,
for an organic vegan diet,
the most sustainable
choice for our planet, that
would be the equivalent
of 281 kilometers.
That is a 94% reduction
in carbon emission
if the person takes
the organic vegan diet.
This is the statistic from
the Institute for Ecological
Economy Research
in Germany –
and this is just
carbon alone!
We did not mention even
the reduction of methane,
which has 72 times
the warming potential
of carbon dioxide
over an average of
20 years time span.
So, you can see clearly
how a vegetarian diet
can reduce at least 80%
of global warming.
Thank you, and
I hope everybody
takes a vegetarian diet,
and best:
organic vegan diet.

Most people would like
to reduce
their carbon footprint.
What difference
would it make if they
change to a vegetarian
or a vegan diet?
A very big difference,
Ben, big difference.

One 6-ounce beefsteak
costs 16 times
as much gasoline,
or fossil fuel energy,
as one vegan meal:
one cup of broccoli,
one cup of eggplant,
4 ounces of cauliflower
and eight ounces of rice,
to be exact,
according to research.
Sixteen times —
6 ounce beefsteak only,
costs 16 times more than
that whole vegan meal.
Now, many scientists
would thus describe meat
as being hugely
carbon intensive,
including Dr. Pachauri,
the chief of IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change).
If all the people
in the world became
veg, vegan, we would
eliminate at least 50% of
greenhouse gas emissions.
Fifty percent, Ben,
greenhouse gas emissions!
But I know
it’s more than that,
karmically speaking
as well.
It would be significantly
more than removing all
the world’s transportation
which is only 13.5 %.
Really?

Yes. So, if we are vegan
we don’t even need to
worry about CO2 yet.
We do worry – it’s better
to have cleaner air – but
CO2 by transportation
and all that
is not the grave urgency
like methane gas
and nitrous oxide
and all the gases
that are produced
out of animal industry.
From my calculations,
from my inside knowledge,
and also
scientifically speaking,
80% of global warming
would be stopped
if we stopped
the animal industry.
The well-known study
by Eshel and Martin at
the University of Chicago
found that being vegan
saves more in emissions
than switching to
a hybrid car.
Scientists from Japan
calculated that
not eating one kilogram
of beef
saved the equivalent
of driving
an average European car
for 250 kilometers.

Can you imagine
one kilogram of beef is
equivalent to driving
250 kilometers
and burning a 100-watt
light bulb for 20 days
non-stop?!
So we should know
where our problem lies.
Now, a study
by the Institute for
Ecological Economy
Research in Germany
found that emissions
from an animal-free
vegan diet are 87% less
than those
of a meat-based diet,
while emissions from
an organic vegan diet
are reduced by 94%.
Again,
as the top climatologist
Dr. James Hansen said
being veg is the single
most effective thing
a person can do to
stop global warming;
that’s without
government even,
without ado,
without protocol,
without any trouble.

If the goal is to be a
truly carbon-free society,
we should consider all
the major sources of
greenhouse gases emissions.
You see,
we are emitting
greenhouse gases not
just through the fumes
from factories, houses,
and cars, but also
through the products that
we choose to consume.
Besides, CO2 is
cancelled out by aerosols,
which are released
at the same time
from burning fossil fuels.
So it means that
even though we have
CO2, the CO2 also
has been cancelled out
by the aerosols
at the same time.
Even though aerosols
are very detrimental to
our health, they actually
have a cooling effect that
cancels out the CO2 heat
in the atmosphere.
So up to now, the
climate warming heat
is not from CO2 –
is not from CO2.
The warming climate
problem is not from CO2,
is not from
carbon dioxide.
I repeat, it’s not from
carbon dioxide.
It is from other sources,
mainly methane.

At least 50% of total
greenhouse gas emissions
are coming from
animal meat and
dairy products. And
it’s not I who said this;
it’s all proven,
researched, confirmed
and published
by the top scientists
of the whole world.

If we only focus on
the green energies, like
solar panel, wind power,
etc., it won’t have
much of an effect,
I’m so sorry to say.
I have to tell you
the truth because
this is also my planet.
Your island could be
my residence at any time
in the future.
I might love your island,
I might want to go there.
So, I want to protect
your island, I want
to protect my planet,
so I have to tell you
everything, although I
might offend somebody
or I might not be very
popular for doing this,
but I have to tell you
the truth because
green energy is not
an urgent task for us
to handle right now,
because green energy
only tackles the effect of,
maybe, aerosol or CO2,
which is not the urgent
issue of global warming,
the producer.

The global warming
effect comes from
raising livestock,
from animals.
So if we continue
on the green energy,
then we don’t have
much of an effect
to stop global warming.
Because
their effectiveness
will be cancelled out
by the large amounts
of greenhouse gases that
we generate
by consuming meat,
and the meat industry.
Besides
the livestock methane
that is responsible for
a portion of 50% of
greenhouse gas emissions –
but 50% is still
a low estimate,
I would say 80% –
there is also
the burning of forests
to make pasture land,
to grow food
for the animals,
and making the chemical
fertilizer and pollution
to grow the feed, the
transportation involved,
the constant refrigeration
involved, etc., etc. And
all the medical effects,
all the costs of the sickness
of the people –
billions, trillions of dollars
goes into the treatment
of the people for
meat-related diseases.

And it’s not always
even effective,
it doesn’t always even
cure people permanently
or perfectly even.
Even we spend so much
money and people
have to go through
so much suffering,
the diseases are not
always completely cured,
or in many cases,
not at all.
So people suffer, people
die for nothing, also,
because of the meat diet.
So, to produce the meat
for consumption,
it costs us too much:
it costs sorrow,
it costs suffering, it costs
trillions of dollars.
All these add up to
many more times
greenhouse gas emissions
than all the world’s
transportation combined,
and apparently,
more than all
the heavy industries and
fossil fuel power stations
combined even.

So, in order to call
ourselves a low-carbon
or carbon-free society,
we must eliminate
our meat consumption
because that is
the number one cause,
we could say that is
the only cause, for
our climate change –
that is, our meat consumption.
This is in line with
the recommendation
of the world’s
leading climate experts,
like the Chair of
the IPCC, Dr. Pachauri,
who is a vegetarian
himself for
the environment’s sake.
In fact, if we focus
on shifting people to be
vegetarian or vegan,
it will save us
much more money
than green technology,
and of course it’s
much more effective.
And I urge you,
the government leaders,
because our time
is running out, we
have to act on this now.

Please explain
to your co-citizens
this important truth
and tell them we must
work together to become
animal-free consumers.
We have a very short
time to save our planet.
We have
a great planet to save.
We have a great
precious treasure – that is,
our children – to save.
And besides,
the government and
the people have nothing
to lose by being vegan.
For the environment,
the absence of livestock
will bring about
much less pollution
and less waste of water
and food resources.
For the citizens, there are
perfectly nutritious,
delicious alternatives
to animal products
nowadays,
and, as we heard
in the doctors’ lectures,
the vegan diet is also
the best for our children.
It’s a win-win solution
as stated by Dr. Pachauri,
and necessary
to save the planet.

Saving the world’s
tropical forests,
the lungs of the Earth,
is one of the very
important priorities,
because when the
tropical rainforests are
destroyed, there are many
frightening side effects.
It’s not just
the permanent changes to
the world’s temperature,
rainfall, and
weather patterns which
the forests regulate.
It’s not just about
the millions of people
who might lose
their livelihoods that
depend on the forests.
There is more to it
than that.
There is the extinction of
plant and animal species
that is 100 times faster
than what is natural, and
it ruins our ecosystems.
And there’s also the
rainforests themselves;
this is important.

The rainforests
themselves normally
are our protectors, but as
the climate gets warmer,
instead of absorbing CO2
to protect our planet’s
climate, they will be
emitting back CO2
as well, and that
will be harmful to us.
By harming the rainforest,
by destroying the planet
by raising animals, we
are turning our protector,
which is the rainforest,
into a harmful agent.

They will not be
helping us,
the rainforests. They will not be helping us, if
the climate gets warmer,
but instead,
they will be worsening
the global warming
problem because they
cannot absorb the CO2,
but they will release
all the CO2 that is
already contained
in their kingdom.
Now, we need to look
at the main reason why
there is deforestation.
Yes, we all know.
There is a whole industry
behind it in most of
the cases, namely
the livestock industry.
For example, 91% of the
Amazon deforested since
1970 was used for what?
For grazing pasture,
meaning that
the number one reason
for the deforestation of
the Amazon – which is
the greatest lung of our
planet – is to raise cattle.

And the second biggest
reason, also for cattle:
they grow the soy
to feed the cattle and,
of course, other animals
as well, by the way.
NASA reported that
once the forest is cleared
for pasture or feed crops,
the soil itself becomes
a large source of
emitting carbon –
the soil itself even.
So not only that, the fires
that burn down the trees
also release a lot of
carbon dioxide, CO2.
The Amazon rainforest
alone contains
more carbon dioxide
than 10 years worth
of all human-produced
greenhouse gases.
Plus,
when we burn the forests,
we release black carbon,
which are particles of
soot that trap
680 times the heat of
the same amount of CO2.
Now, blame whom?
Don’t bother blaming
CO2. (Yes.)

Especially because
they are black –
these soot from the
burnt rainforest –
they hold a lot of heat.
According to researchers
in Brazil, 60% of the
black carbon measured
at the Antarctic Peninsula
came from burning
the rainforest in Brazil
for livestock raising.
So, we have to put
the blame, the finger
on the right spot.
I hope
the leaders understand
where to put their finger,
not just talking around
the subject and trying to
avoid the burning spot,
which is
livestock raising, which
is animal production.

How is the sun
beneficial to our
meditation practice?

If you sit in the sun
to meditate,
it's very, very, very good
for your spiritual progress.
It could increase
hundreds of thousands
or millions of
spiritual points
if you concentrate well,
if you deserve it.
But cover yourself, or you sit in the shade and with the sun nearby, is shining in, also good enough.
Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Tuesday, November 30
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Any denomination –
Catholic, Christian,
Muslim, Hindu,
Zoroastrian, Islam,
Buddhist – if they just sit
in the sun and pray,
they will get
also the same,
more or less 200,000
spiritual points per hour.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Monday, December 6
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

During
the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Television staff
on October 3, 2010,
Supreme Master
Ching Hai
revealed the practical
function of wormholes.

It's like a portal
that connects between
different dimensions.
If UFOs go, it's quicker
through this way,
like a universal highway,
okay? –
for material means only.
For spiritual portal,
we have to practice
the Light and Sound.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Monday, December 13
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

There are parallel
universes, so that
we can choose our action
and choose the outcome.
If we choose this, then
it’s a different outcome,
different future, for you.
And if you choose that,
then it’s a different future
for you.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Monday, December 20
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

How could we improve
our techniques to travel
further and discover
more parts of universe?

Improve first
moral standard and
spiritual levels
and then all will come.
Just like in the Bible,
it says, “Seek you first
the Kingdom of God
and all the things
shall be added unto you.”

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Monday, December 27
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

If we practice spiritually,
if we change our life
into more morally fit,
if we are more virtuous
and more selfless,
more spiritually elevated,
then our destiny changes,
even if it’s fixed.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Monday, January 3
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

If we keep breaking
Spiritual Blessing Lines
and not making new ones,
or lengthen or
widen them, I don’t know
if we have hope.
We all have to work
together to tell people,
to let people know
that it’s time to change.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
Monday, January 10
for the videoconference
with Supreme Master
Ching Hai titled
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Tune in to
Supreme Master Television
today for our program,
“Revelations
on the Magnanimous Sun
and the Universe,”
on Between Master
and Disciples.

Animal industries are the
number one killer of
all killers on this planet.
Forget about the war,
forget terrorism, they are
just small numbers
compared to
the meat industry.
The meat industry is
the number one killer,
is the number one
murderer,
and a legal murderer –
and we endorse it!
We accept it!

This is all our wrongdoing,
it’s all our fault.
If the planet is to be gone
forever, we cannot
blame anything else,
anyone else,
except ourselves
if we don’t do anything
at all to change this.
Furthermore,
it’s not only the Amazon.
NASA states that
the single biggest
direct cause of
tropical deforestation is
livestock grazing land.

The livestock sector
is the single largest
human use of land.
We have only 30% of
land that covers the Earth.
The rest is 70% –it’s water,
it’s ocean.
We have only 30%
of land,
and of that precious 30%,
one-third of it is used,
not for our true survival,
but for livestock pasture
or growing tons of grains
for animal feed –
all to produce
a few pieces of meat.
And you swallow it
in two seconds.
And that few seconds
will bring you tons of
sicknesses, diseases
and suffering, sorrow,
for yourself also.
Even if we don’t have
compassion
for the animals, please
do have compassion
for ourselves.
Do not eat poison and
continue to suffer more
in the hospital with
all kinds of treatment
related to it.
In fact, we are
losing 55 square meters
of rainforest for every
beef hamburger patty.
Every little beef
hamburger patty,
that costs 55 square meters.
This is a pity,
because we have better,
more delicious,
more nutritious,
more healthy, and
safer alternatives to
hamburgers to nourish
ourselves anyway.
How can we, as very
intelligent human beings,
do this to ourselves?
Not to talk about
the cruelty that
we committed to animals
which degrades us to
this level. I’m so sorry
to have offended you, but
I also take responsibility
as a human being here
on this planet for this –
for all the things that I
have not known before,
for all the things that
I’m doing with you,
I have been doing
with you, in this respect.
So, please do forgive me
for being straight,
honest, and “just the facts.”

Supreme Master,
is it true that there are
links between industrial
farming of animals
and global warming?
And what are the actual
effects of climate change?
Yes, yes,
absolutely, Louise.
The link from
the livestock industry to
global warming has been
clearly established.
In fact, earlier this year
the Irish government
even considered creating
a cow tax in order to meet
the European Union’s
new strict climate goals.
Ireland's Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
has stated in a report that
the agricultural sector
is the largest producer
of greenhouse gases
in the country.
With livestock production
accounting for 93%
of Ireland's agriculture
sector, Louise –
livestock production in
your country accounting
for 93% of Ireland's
agriculture sector –
it is crucial that
the animal-raising sector
is addressed to
stop global warming.

The world’s scientists
fear that if we pass
certain tipping points,
the next stages of climate
change would not only be
fast but irreversible
and catastrophic, Louise.
So, there are already signs
of this dangerous time
approaching, through
observations of lakes and
elsewhere bubbling with
methane gas that used to
be stored safely below a
frozen layer of the Earth.

No one knows when
the day might be that
enormous amounts are
uncontrollably released,
causing a sudden spike
in temperature that
could then catalyze
runaway warming.
That would be
catastrophic for us,
Louise.
Over-devastating effects
of climate change have
already been occurring:
the heat-reflecting
Arctic ice is on its way to
completely vanishing
in a very near summer;
rising sea levels and
dozens of submerged
or threatened islands;

oceanic regions that are
lifeless with dead zones
are becoming too acidic
to be livable due to
excessive levels of CO2;
more frequent deadly
wildfire; entire wildlife
species going extinct
100 times faster than
normal; more intense
and destructive storms;
disease-carrying
mosquitoes spread
by warming regions;
disappearance of
the world’s glaciers;
drying or disappeared
lakes and rivers by
the tens of thousands
and the spreading of deserts.

And as a consequence of
these environmental
impacts, 2 billion people
are facing water shortages
and 20 million people
are in a desperate state –
like refugees except with
no official protection.
Very sad things.
All these situations are
getting worse and worse
and won't stop until
we really change the way
we live our life.
So, what's to be done?
The solution is quite easy:
simply stop eating meat.
Simply stop eating meat –
that is the best solution.
This is imperative now
because of the perilous
state of our planet and
our limited time.

Stopping meat production
will lower greenhouse
gas emissions in
the fastest possible way
and halt the unspeakable
environmental damages,
ranging from
climate change to
land and water misuse,
pollution, loss of wildlife
and threats to
human health.
Each new scientific study
finds that
livestock production, this
killing of animals for meat,
bears increasingly
more responsibility for
the climate change crisis
of our planet.
In fact, the most recent
calculations have
concluded that livestock
emits at least 51% of
the greenhouse gases
responsible
for global warming.
And soon after this new
report, researchers from
NASA just announced
that methane, the potent,
greenhouse gas whose
largest human-created
source is the
livestock industry, traps
a hundred times more
heat than carbon dioxide
over a 20-year period.

This is an astonishing
increased update from
the previous number
of 72 times.
Until now, most studies
used the fact that
methane is 23 times more
heat trapping than CO2,
over 100 years, which
gives a less accurate
picture about methane
in its actual life span.
Therefore,
the powerful methane is
actually a greater cause
of the warming than
previously estimated.
The good news is that
methane dissipates
from the atmosphere in
approximately 12 years,
whereas it takes
carbon dioxide thousands
of years to disappear.

So, if we want to make a
rapid, effective difference
now, we must stop
the methane generation
at its largest,
original source - that is,
the livestock industry.
The livestock industry is
also the top source of
another, major greenhouse
gas – nitrous oxide.
Sixty-five percent of
all human-made
nitrous oxide is found in
the manure and fertilizer
for feed crops, which
traps a hugely damaging
289 times more heat
over a 20-year period.
Next, the livestock sector
is the single largest
human use of land, and
the top driving force behind
rainforest destruction.
In the Amazon alone,
over 90% of
the deforested land since
1970 was for livestock.

Trees are vital to help
absorb greenhouse gases,
but trees, when they are
burned, also release,
rather than absorb,
greenhouse gases,
thus making the problem
worse.
Forest burning
for making pasture is also
a major source of
black carbon, which is
soot, particles capable of
trapping 2,000 times
more heat than CO2.
Oh, God! Believe this?
The super hot particles
end up on the world’s
ice caps and
accelerate their melting.

The livestock industry
causes a large part of
the world’s soil erosion.
It is a leading driver
of desertification,
biodiversity loss,
and water waste,
and water pollution –
despite water becoming
scarcer each day
due to global warming.

Moreover, the livestock
sector inefficiently drains
our fossil fuel and
food grain resources.
In short, we throw away
12 times more grain,
at least 10 times more
water, and 8 times more
fossil fuel energy to
produce a portion of beef
compared to
a nutritionally similar
or even greater amount
of vegan food.
By the way, fishing is
also horrendously
wasteful and murderous.
A major study predicts
that all fished animals will
be 90% gone by 2050
due to overfishing and
over-wasting bycatch.

It means those fish and
other marine lives that
they don’t need, but
while catching other fish,
they kill them as well,
by the billions.
Moreover, it is such
an alarming picture when
we think about
the billions of animals
killed each year
for so-called food:
55 billion, which
is not even counting
fish and other species!
That is 8 times more
innocent beings murdered
each year than there are
people on the Earth.

How can our planet and
our conscience support
such unsustainable,
damaging,
and criminal practice?
And all for a piece of
dead flesh every day,
which we now know
isn’t even healthy
and, in fact, kills us.
I pray that our world’s
leaders will take
swift actions to ban
the destructive meat
production and, instead,
use subsidies for organic
vegan farming which
helps absorb emissions.
Then, we can have
an immediate effect
on climate change
and have more time
to develop and perfect
our green technology
to address CO2.
I call upon the media
to help as well, and
thank you and the Irish
Dog Journal for their part.

And, most important,
individuals must turn to
the planet-saving, organic
vegan lifestyle, because
the dangers are mounting
and time is urgent.
If every one of us would
only switch now,
we would ensure a future
for our children
and generations to come.

:
Supreme Master, here
in Ireland, we are
very concerned about
our beautiful world and
sincerely strive to do
our bit to conserve it,
and indeed to preserve
the planet.
What do you feel
are the best ways that we
can go about doing this,
on an individual basis?

It’s like everywhere,
Louise.
But first of all,
I commend Ireland
for her leadership in
improving our world, as
the first country in Europe
to implement a smoking
ban in workplaces, and
the Irish government is
working hard to promote
organic farming. Bravo.
A lot of work
must be done still
to have a beautiful
and healthy planet.
We have to stop the
planetary climate change,
stop depleting
our water supplies,
stop deforestation,
desertification, ocean
pollution, river pollution,
species extinction, etc., etc.

But all these can be
accomplished to a vast
degree and very quickly
by individuals changing
to an organic vegan diet.
And the leading voices
in global warming, like
former US Vice President
and Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate Mr. Al Gore
and UK climate expert
and economist
Lord Nicholas Stern have
also made statements that
being vegetarian for the
environment is important.
As an individual,
by choosing
the organic vegan diet,
we will save 1.5 tons of
carbon emissions per year,
which is more than
the savings from driving
a hybrid car for the whole
year; we will save
5 to 10 times
the amount of grains;
and by not eating just
one pound of beef, we
save more water than
by not showering daily
for 6 months
to a whole year!

Imagine! Yes.
So, as a whole, we can
shift our food system
to organic – not to an
“organic” animal system.
My God! They use
“organic” for everything.
We have to switch to
organic vegan diet
because the “organic”
animal system
could even cause
more emissions than
the conventional way.
For example,
the Rodale Institute has
found that 40% of
the CO2 in the air can be
absorbed if all the
tillable land on the planet
were organic vegan.
So, in fact, one study
calculated that
the organic vegan diet
saves 94%, Louise, of the
greenhouse gas emissions
per person per year!

That’s all we have to do,
switch to organic vegan,
94% is saved per person and
the little 6% nature can
eat it up in no time.
Because nature is also
made to protect us,
but we just overload
nature.
Moreover, if all
the people in the world
are veg, it would preserve
the lives of over a billion
fellow human beings
suffering from hunger.
There would be no more
climate refugees, Louise.
The Earth would heal
itself and there would be
more than enough for
all the children to grow
in health and safety.
I am sure that this day
will come Louise,
very soon,
as humankind joins hands
to make it happen,
just like we do now.
Please have hope, Louise,
and pray. (I do.)

I will ask the next
question on behalf of Mr.
Danyo Koami Hagbalé
who is Chief
Division Supervisor of
Prefectures and Regions
at the Ministry of
Territorial Administration,
and the question is:
Charcoal is
an energy source
regularly used in Africa,
mostly in household
activities because it is
cheaper compared to gas.
However, its use has
caused many parks
to be deforested
and not reforested, while
the burning of charcoal
also increases
air pollution.
Please, Master, could you
give us advice about
other energy sources that
would be affordable
and could help us
avoid deforestation
and air pollution?

Hallo,
Monsieur Chief Danyo.
Yes, I understand, and
I am glad people such as
yourself are concerned
about preserving
our forests.
We must protect the trees
as much as we can.
According to the
environmental organization
Greenpeace, 8% of
the Earth's forest-related
carbon is stored
in the vast rainforests
of the Congo River Basin
in Central Africa.
Scientists predict that
continued deforestation
of the Congo will release
the same amount of CO2
as the United Kingdom
emitted
over the last 60 years!
Imagine that.
So, it is important to
preserve the forest
while we still can
because it helps
in addressing
global warming.

Another alternative that
could be used to
avoid deforestation
is something called
green charcoal, or
biochar, which has been
introduced in Senegal.
This is made from
agricultural waste products,
is affordable and
prevents deforestation.
It also absorbs CO2
as well, which is why
climate scientists
support the use of it.
It absorbs the CO2
very well.
So this is one alternative.
And, of course,
if possible you can use
a sustainable energy
alternative such as
a solar oven cooker,
which is safer and causes
no air pollution at all.
So, these are just
some examples of
affordable energy sources
we can try and
share with one another.
I’m sure there are more.
You can do some
internet research to see
any better solution
up to date.

But the most important
and most urgent,
once again,
is the veg diet.
V-E-G diet.
This is the good deed that
you can do to help save
the planet as a whole,
because this will
most quickly reduce
global warming.
And it’s not just that.
Truly, being veg
is not just about reducing
greenhouse gases,
it is about stopping the
suffering of the animals
and their cruel inhuman
mistreatment.
We have to be a
noble species. We have to
be noble human beings.
This is what it is all about.
We have to stop
inhumane treatment
of animals.

And if we, in Africa,
join together
to be veg,
we will be blessed
by all the Heavens.
I’m totally in support of
the compassionate
vegetarian solution that
you lovingly propose.
Could you explain further:
is the organic
vegan lifestyle
the most
effective solution
to save the planet,
and also a vision of
a noble lifestyle in the future,
when Earth merges with
other enlightened beings
in the galaxy?
I’m glad to hear that you
support the vegan solution.
It is a true solution, yes,
and it is the most effective
way to save the planet.
The reason
is based on the significant
planet-cooling effect
of removing methane
from the atmosphere,
which happens
when we switch to
the organic vegan diet.
And, besides
removing the harmful
methane emissions,
organic tilling methods
can actually store
40% of the carbon
back into the soil.
So to be veg is a way
to not only eliminate
significant emissions,
but to absorb
even more carbon
from the atmosphere.
The organic approach
also does not
apply harmful chemicals
like the ones used for
conventional farming.
This is very reassuring for
anyone who has children,
especially
as a recent study showed
that young persons are
particularly vulnerable
to the toxic effects
of pesticides.
So, the organic vegan diet
is multifold beneficial.
Forests also
play a tremendous role
in absorbing CO2.
For example, the forests
in the Pacific Northwest
region of the US
are able to absorb half
of all the emissions of
the state of Oregon, USA.
So we should
protect our forests as well,
especially from clearing
for cattle grazing and
for animal-feed growing,
because these activities
even add back many times
more greenhouse gases.
Most of the deforestation
in our world
is due to animal raising,
taking up a staggering
one-third of the entire
land area on the globe!
Now, you ask about
a vision of Earth merging
with others in the galaxy –
that’s a big vision.
We only need
to look at our own
neighboring planets,
Mars and Venus, to see
that the vision is bleak,
is disastrous, ##if we don’t make
the right choice,
the right change now.
Any planetary scientist
knows that
Mars and Venus
went through dramatic
atmospheric changes
in the past, similar
to what we have begun
to experience right now.
Long ago,
Mars and Venus were
once a lot like our planet –
they had water, life,
and people similar to us -
but the inhabitants
of Mars and Venus
destroyed their respective
planetary homes
because they raised
too much livestock,
and the gases released
triggered an irreversible
greenhouse gas effect,
plus poisonous
hydrogen sulfide
in the case of Mars.
So, that’s why
we see only the traces of
the landforms and oceans
that once used to be there.
And on Venus,
the atmosphere
is so heated and
choked up with CO2 –
carbon dioxide –
scientists thus called it
“runaway global warming”
and say this is
what the future of Earth
might be like.
So, let’s not end up like
either Mars or Venus,
our neighboring planets.
Also, once
we stop the killing,
then we will generate
a more loving, kind,
and inviting atmosphere
for other noble beings
in the galaxy
to perhaps join us
or be in contact with us.
But, regardless of the
contact with other beings,
humanity must uphold
a gentler, higher standard
for the Earth to
continue supporting life.
This greater virtue
is absolutely necessary
for the conscience
to be at peace.
So, beyond the
physical consideration
of things like methane gas
and toxic chemicals,
there is also the spiritual
consequence of killing.
Killing is stealing life,
the most precious gift
to any physical being.
Animals are killed for
meat consumption in the
cruelest ways imaginable.
That makes us humans
the cruelest beings
on the planet.
We are the cruelest beings
on the planet.
I don’t know if
we should call ourselves
civilized, great beings.
The degrading practice
of killing must stop.
The killing must stop
and we replace it
by virtuous ways of life
that are also peaceful
and kind.
If all of humanity
turns to such a standard,
this world
will be transformed
indeed, heralding
a true Golden Age of
harmony and happiness
for all beings.
Let’s pray
that it will be so.

With diverse flora and fauna, magnificent natural landscapes, and an ecological biosphere that supports life, this wondrous planet is our earthly home.

From our animal co-inhabitants to the lush rainforests and life-giving soil, we cherish all these as gifts from the Creator. It is a common theme in the world’s major faiths that during our temporary stay here, we should be good stewards of Mother Earth. Throughout the years, Supreme Master Ching Hai has shared the message of leading a balanced life while following a spiritual path.

Not only must we nourish our spirits, but we share the responsibility to care for nature and our fellow beings. In light of recent scientific evidence which pinpoint the raising of livestock as the number one contributor to climate change, Supreme Master Ching Hai affirms the important message she has noted for over the past two decades:we must be vegan and practice sustainable living.

We invite you to listen to a compilation of excerpts from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s lectures entitled “The True Solution for a Carbon-free Society.”

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The only way to avoid the “point of no return” climate catastrophe is to take action on the most climatically disastrous course of all – that is, meat production. By now we have all the evidence, all the information to safely say so.

The livestock industry is the top greenhouse gas generator. The last published findings from the United Nations in 2006 told us that the livestock industry causes greenhouse gas emissions more than all the world’s transportation sectors combined - airplanes, trains, cars, motorcycles, etc., altogether. Updated calculations tell us that the livestock industry is responsible for at least 50% of the global warming.

There are three reasons why the livestock industry is the first cause of global warming that we should focus on. First, livestock is the primary human-caused emitter of methane, and methane not only has 72 times the heat-trapping ability, it is a shorter-lived gas.

This means that it will leave the atmosphere much faster than CO2, within just a decade as opposed to thousands of years for CO2. Therefore, eliminating methane by eliminating livestock breeding is the fastest way to cool the planet.